PERCEPTIONS the Orange Regional Gallery is an elitist institution couldn’t be further from the truth, Alan Sisley says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But the outspoken gallery director maintains not all artists deserve to have works displayed in the gallery and says a roster for local exhibitions would undermine the quality and reputation of the facility.
A petition by disgruntled amateur artists recently prompted Orange City Council to ask Mr Sisley to consider displaying and selling local art works.
In response, he yesterday said there’s no evidence to support claims local talent is being shut out of the gallery.
Last year, over half of all individual or group exhibitions held at the Orange Regional Gallery were by local artists, far greater than Bathurst and Dubbo galleries.
Sixty eight local artists had their works displayed at the gallery in 2009, Mr Sisley said.
“That shows we’re already supporting quality local artists,” he said.
“But the charter of the gallery from the very beginning is that it is primarily for education.
“Showing work by artists who just happen to live around here serves no educational purpose.”
Councillors agree and will not support changing how the gallery is run.
Amateur artist Rob Keen is unhappy with that decision.
“Alan Sisley says a regional gallery is there to educate the local riff raff on the finer things about art, but the finer things don’t impress a lot of people,” Mr Keen said.
“It’s all good for him to say what art is good, but to the ordinary bloke on the street it’s crap.
“Ordinary people like to see things they can understand, paintings of trees, rivers and people.
“But nobody else wanted to back me, so I’ve pulled the pin.
“I’m not going to bust my gut and get ulcers and hypertension over it, I’ll just showcase my art in galleries in towns other than Orange.”
Mr Sisley said people did not visit regional galleries expecting to find work for sale.
If art sales became a prime purpose of the gallery, government grants, business sponsorships and donations would be jeopardised, he said.
“If we had an exhibition where everything was for sale we would be seen as a ratepayer funded commercial gallery which would be a very strange institution,” Mr Sisley said.
The nature of touring exhibitions also means all spaces in the gallery are booked at least 18 months in advance, making it almost impossible to factor in more local exhibitions.
bevan.shields@ruralpress.com
